What We Did

Four day weekends are the best, aren't they? I'll admit that part of the enjoyment is that while everyone else in the country was concerned about making lots of food, traveling to visit relatives, and family traditions, we were relaxing. We enjoy the lack of people in the city. We enjoy the fact that we can't really do anything, because everything is closed. (But you do have to plan ahead to make sure that you have your groceries!) The weather has warmed up a bit, so we had 40 degree rainy days, which made it that much easier to relax inside--going to a movie, playing games with friends, or just working. The only problem with this warming trend is that it makes you feel like maybe spring is on the way, and then you realize that it's only February--there's still a lot of winter left in Seoul!

Today was a big day for those of us from Seattle! Eric and I were in school for Super Bowl Monday, of course. Ironically, we felt guilty about taking the day off to watch the game, but we didn't feel too guilty about having it on the projector during our classes. Thankfully, my students were able to stay focused (enough) on reading the Epic of Gilgamesh, though there were a couple who got into the game. More than half my class had never watched American football, so I figure they were learning something. When the game drew to a close, I even had a couple of students from WA in class, so we were able to cheer together. From what I heard, I wasn't the only teacher with the game on. Things like the Super Bowl always make us feel a little farther from home, but we were grateful to at least be able to see the game and cheer on our Seahawks! Super Bowl champs!!!

On the day after Christmas, we were all ready to get out of the house, and of course, I had plenty of tourist-y things on my list for Travis to do. So, we headed out early so that we could get a few things checked off the list. When the weather is nice (though we never have guests when the weather is nice!), it's nice to head to Gyeongbokgung Palace and walk the grounds, then we head to the Folk Museum (inside the palace grounds). After spending a few hours there, we can comfortably walk to Gwanghwamun Square, then down to the Cheonggyecheon, and end up in Insadong.

But, that's on a nice day. When coats, gloves, scarves, hats, and boots are not required. No such luck on this particular day. We headed out and things were looking good--until it started to snow. By the time we got off the bus, the snow was coming down hard and the street vendors were beginning to close up shop. My original brilliant idea of checking out some street food, winding through alleys, and finding a good Korean restaurant was not looking to brilliant anymore. It was bitterly cold and wet, and we needed a new plan.

The boys decided that the easiest plan was to head back to Itaewon to go screen golfing. If I had to go back to Itaewon, I wanted to go to my favorite Turkish restaurant. So, we jumped on the subway and had a new plan for the day--all was good again. Until we got to Itaewon and discovered that my very favorite restaurant had shut its doors and was under construction. I was not a happy camper. We headed to one of the other kebab restaurants (that doesn't even compare!) and picked up lunch to go.

Screen golf was semi-warm. I was still cold because if I'd turned the heat up as warm as I would've liked, the boys would've had sweat dripping off their foreheads. It was uneventful, and I wished that I'd brought work to do, but that's life--rolling with the punches.

After golf, we picked up some coffee to warm me from the inside out, jumped into a cab, and headed back to the War Memorial to check it out when it was actually open. We made it through about a third of the museum before it was closing time and time to head home to make dinner. We did eat a few dinners at home, I promise!